Briquette igniters



Sept. 5, 1967 BEAN 3,339,505

BRIQUETTE IGNITERS Filed April 21, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

' u H H GEORGE G. BEAN H ,2 I? L:

ATTORNEY Sept. 5, 1967 G. G. BEAN BRIQUETTE IGNITERS I 3 Sheets5l1eet :1,

Filed April 21, 1965 FIGS llB

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FIG. 6

INVENTOR GEORGE G- BEAN BY,

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,339,505 BRIQUETTE IGNITERS George G. Bean, P.0. Box 335, Topsham, Maine 04086 Filed Apr. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 449,746 1 Claim. (Cl. 110-1) The present invention relates to devices for use in igniting charcoal and like briquettes.

Outdoor cooking has become increasingly popular and a wide range of equipment is available for use in the preparation and service of foods out-of-doors. Grilles that burn charcoal and like briquettes are widely used and are satisfactory except for the difiiculty of igniting the briquettes.

The practice of laying a fire with a suitable base of wood kindling will, of course, ignite the briquettes but kindling, at least in adequate supply, is not always available, the fire is smoky, and the time is uncertain when the briquettes will have burned to the extent ensuring a coal bed most effective for cooking, especially grilling.

The problem has been widely recognized and special starting packages have been made available as well as starting liquids. While the former are easily handled and safe to use, they have not otherwise solved the problem of ensuring that a bed of coals will be available within an interval that is reasonably predictable. The liquids are, of course, dangerous to use and are so volatile that they are not usually effective to ensure a good fire without repeated use with each such use involving risk to the user without any assurance of briquette ignition.

The principal objective of the present invention is to provide a portable igniter in which a charge of briquettes may be positively ignited within a time interval that can be accurately approximated, and then poured into a grille. For the ignition of the briquettes, energy sources are used that can be handled easily and safely, such as electricity, bottled gas, and cans of jellied fuels.

In accordance with the invention this objective is attained with a device consisting of a sleeve-like body and an ash receiving base to which one end of the body is attached in vertically spaced relationship to provide an annular draft inlet. A transverse grate is supported by the body between its ends and the device includes briquette igniting means within the body adjacent the grate. A series of circumferentially spaced draft inlets between the grate and the lower end of the body provide air inlets for a draft primarily serving to cool the body while the air entrance of the annular inlet is primarily to ensure eflicient combustion.

In the accompanying drawings, there are shown illustrative embodiments of the invention from which these and other of its objectives, novel features, and advantages will be readily apparent.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a briquette igniter in accordance with one embodiment of the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a section taken vertically through the igniter shown in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary section taken approximately along the indicated lines 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a corresponding section of an igniter in accordance with another embodiment of the invention,

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of that igniter and its fuel supply,

FIGURE 6 is a section similar to those of FIGURES 2 and 4, illustrating yet another embodiment of the invention,

FIGURE 7 is a section, on a reduced scale, taken approximately along the indicated lines 7-7 of FIGURE 6, and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a fuel supply for use with the igniter of FIGURES 6 and 7.

The briquette igniter illustrated by FIGURES l-3 consists of a sleeve-like body 10 and a pan-like base 11 of a somewhat larger diameter than the body 10. Legs 12 extend upwardly through slots 13 in the base 11 and the legs are shown as riveted to the sleeve 10 as at 14 and to brackets 15 as at 16. The brackets 15 are riveted as at 17 to the undersurface of the base 11 to space it above the supporting ends of the legs 12 with the base 11 concentric with but below the lower end of the body 10 to provide a generally indicated, annular air inlet 18.

The rim of the base 11 is shown as notched as at 19 while the lower end of the body 10 has an outwardly disposed flange 20 and the upper end thereof is outwardly flared and shown as notched to provide an annular pouring lip 21. Adjacent the lower end of the body 10 there is a circumferentially spaced series of air inlet ports 22. The upper and lower ends of a handle 23 are riveted to the body 10 adjacent the pouring lip 21 and the inlet ports 22, respectively.

Within the lower part of the body 10 but above the ports 22, there is a series of brackets 24 supporting a removable grate 25 on which a conventional heating coil 26 rests with its ends 27 and 28 connected to a socket 29 carried by the wall of the body 10 to detachably receive the plug 30 at the end of a cord 31, the coil 26 being of the type consisting of a resistance heating element within and electrically insulated from a tubular housing.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIG- URES 4 and 5, the igniter is of the same general construction but uses gas instead of electricity as its fuel. The igniter itself will, accordingly, not again be detailed and its corresponding parts are distinguishhed by the sufiix addition A to the reference numerals.

The sleeve-like body 10A has radially disposed arms 32 riveted thereto below the brackets 24A which support the grate 25A. The brackets 32 support a generally indicated burner unit 33 which may be of any type for use with a gas source such, for example, as the generally indicated bottle 34. The burner unit 33 is shown as including an inverted cup 35 having a series of ports 36 adjacent its closed upper end which is capped with a layer of insulation 37. An annular pan 38 having air holes 39 is supported by the cup 35 below its ports 36.

Clamped to the cup 35, adjacent the bottom thereof, is the gas inlet 40 having an upwardly disposed outlet end 41 and its other end within a sleeve 42 provided with an air inlet port 43 and clamped to the body 10A by the nut 44. The end 45 of the conduit 46- is detachably held within the sleeve 44 and the other end of the conduit 46 is attached to the valve controlled outlet 47 of the bottle 34.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIG- URES 6-8 utilizes the same general body and base construction as the previously described embodiments but utilizes different fuels such, for example, as alcohol or gasoline jellies in a can 48. The parts of the igniter of FIGURES 6-8 that correspond to the previously described embodiments are identified by the same reference numerals but these are distinguished by the suflix additions B.

In this embodiment of the invention, the base 11B has a central opening 49 having a pair of radially disposed slots 50. A holder 51 for a can 48 is dimensioned to fit the opening 49 and has tabs 52 that may be passed through the slots 50 but provide support for the holder 51 when it is then turned to an appropriate extent by means of its handle 53 whose end 54 is downturned to provide, with the tabs 52, three point support for the holder 51.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that bri- J quette igniters in accordance with the invention are sirnple and rugged in construction and are both easy to use and positive in operation with such fuels as those of the types referred to. In practice briquettes are deposited in an igniter with at least one layer over its grate. With the igniting means in operation, the briquettes become thoroughly ignited in time intervals that are consistent with the amount of briquettes used and the dual draft arrangement ensures efficient combustion and prevents the body from becoming too hot. In addition, the base presents a heat reflecting surface. The ignited briquettes may then be carried to and dumped into the grille ensuring favorable cooking conditions.

I claim:

In a portable device for igniting and burning charcoal and like briquettes, a cylindrical sleeve-like body, an ash receiving base to which one end of the body is attached in vertically spaced relationship thereto to provide an annular draft inlet and width the axis of said body being vertical with respect to said base, a transverse grate supported by said body between the ends thereof, and a gas burner supported by said body below said grate and spaced inwardly from said body, said body having a series of circumferentially spaced draft inlet ports between said grate and said lower end and wherein the burner includes a portion having a series of outwardly opening ports and a layer of insulation betweenits upper end and the grate, and an annular pan member surrounding said portion below the ports thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 594,645 11/ 1897 Nordinger 126-25 934,512 9/1909 Esposito 158-10 1,303,970 5/1919 Schwartz 158-99 1,426,815 8/1922 Burgstaller 158-99 1,467,815 9/ 1923 Roemer 126-59.5 1,905,954 4/ 1933 Sweeley et al. 2,120,683 6/ 1938 Simmons. 2,549,347 4/1951 Van Tuyl 158-113 2,608,190 8/ 1952 Winning et a1 126-25 2,866,883 12/1958 Borden 126-25 X 3,033,275 5/ 1962 Nichols 126-25 X 3,073,263 1/1963 Wynkoop 110-1 3,216,379 11/1965 Durfee 110-1 FREDERICK KETIERER, Primary Examiner. 

